Sixty years after the end of World War II, Sharon told hundreds of youths who joined a two-mile “March of the Living” that they will have to pass along the lessons of the Holocaust.

“You have the duty to bequeath the lesson, memories and stories to underscore the importance of the Jewish state,” he said.

“Remember the victims and remember the murderers. Remember how millions of Jews were led to their deaths and the world remained silent.”

Sharon last visited Auschwitz 16 years ago, but said visiting as prime minister was different.

“I feel the significance. I think what we need to do – with all the desire to advance in the peace process – we always have to be on guard and to rely only on ourselves,” Sharon told reporters on the flight from Israel.

“Jews can only rely on themselves.”

Jenya Sonts, a Russian student, said Sharon’s message was not lost.

“There are so many people from around the world here, it is a guarantee this will not happen again,” he said, adding, “We have all survived the Holocaust.” The march, from Auschwitz to the Nazi death camp at Birkenau, has been conducted since 1998, and has drawn large numbers of Holocaust survivors each year.

Katia Egett, a Hungarian Jew who spent a year in Auschwitz, brought her daughter and grandchildren.

“I want to say goodbye to my mother and my family,” she said. “Their graves are not here, but their ashes are. It’s hard. I feel cold outside and inside.”

The march’s founder, Abraham Hirchson, said after the survivors die, “Someone has to say, ‘I was here; I spoke to a survivor; I touched one.’ “

In Israel, meanwhile, swastikas and slogans comparing Sharon with Adolf Hitler were found at the national Holocaust museum at Yad Vashem.

The son of murdered former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin said he feared for Sharon’s safety due to his Gaza Strip withdrawal plans.

“We’ve seen enough expressions of hate and sentiments against Prime Minister Sharon that in my opinion cross the border,” Yuval Rabin told a news briefing.